SAK custom/pivots??
- Thread starter AdamG90
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Sounds like an answer looking for a problem.
I've been using SAKs since the early '70s and have never had a pivot problem with any of them. No play, no wiggle, no issues.
Why introduce a potential failure point (adjustable!) to the game? What is the benefit of that?
I've been using SAKs since the early '70s and have never had a pivot problem with any of them. No play, no wiggle, no issues.
Why introduce a potential failure point (adjustable!) to the game? What is the benefit of that?
I rebuild SAKs from soup to nuts. I make new scales, new custom g10, brass, or copper liners. I do acid wash, acid etching, stone wash, and flamed finishes. I have to make new brass pivot pins every build. I add on custom blades (for example... "Spydernox" builds which are victorinox with SPYDERCO mane blades added on), scalpel add, xacto add, etc.... I'm not sure if you've ever broken down a shit load of these things in order to make a custom toolset but a threaded steel pivot with a torx screw holding it all together at the other end makes life a HELL of alot easier for me. Some of the "benefits" include...
1. No cutting and peeing no brass pins. Period.
2. Obviously a threaded titanium pivot is a much stronger material than a brass pin
3. ALOT easier to disassemble and reassemble if you want to add or remove layers in the future
4. Eliminates having to drill out the old pins and make new brass pins EVERY TIME you disassemble/reassemble
5. Eliminates the possibility of loosing a glued-on or snapped-on scale
6. WAY easier to breakdown and THOROUGHLY clean
7.) ZERO flex. Zero oxidation, binding and the inevitable breaking a nail off
8.)Adjustable tension via screwdriver rather than a ball peen hammer.
Not to mention they are much more aesthetically pleasing imo. I could go on all day lol. I've got tons of reasons why I prefer a threaded pivot. In my experience they do the exact opposite by eliminating potential failures. Not to mention the ease of use. I'm still using brass pins on 4+layer knives which is fine but if I had a threaded titanium pin option I would prefer that option. But hey... If you prefer a stock knife, stock scales, no custom mods, and brass pins more power to you. You like what you like at the end of the day. There's nothing wrong with having different preferences. I'm guessing you don't know of any shops making threaded pivots
lol ???....
1. No cutting and peeing no brass pins. Period.
2. Obviously a threaded titanium pivot is a much stronger material than a brass pin
3. ALOT easier to disassemble and reassemble if you want to add or remove layers in the future
4. Eliminates having to drill out the old pins and make new brass pins EVERY TIME you disassemble/reassemble
5. Eliminates the possibility of loosing a glued-on or snapped-on scale
6. WAY easier to breakdown and THOROUGHLY clean
7.) ZERO flex. Zero oxidation, binding and the inevitable breaking a nail off
8.)Adjustable tension via screwdriver rather than a ball peen hammer.
Not to mention they are much more aesthetically pleasing imo. I could go on all day lol. I've got tons of reasons why I prefer a threaded pivot. In my experience they do the exact opposite by eliminating potential failures. Not to mention the ease of use. I'm still using brass pins on 4+layer knives which is fine but if I had a threaded titanium pin option I would prefer that option. But hey... If you prefer a stock knife, stock scales, no custom mods, and brass pins more power to you. You like what you like at the end of the day. There's nothing wrong with having different preferences. I'm guessing you don't know of any shops making threaded pivots
lol ???....
jmgruber
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Spikediesel
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Most of the larger SAKās that I use and modify are held together with 1/8ā diameter internally threaded (#2X56TPI) stainless steel barrels. The barrels and screws can be cut to length. I usually red LocTite the cut screw and the cut end of the barrel making a T-Nut out of these parts. The uncut, unglued screw and uncut, unglued barrel end make a trouble free site for disassembly. The holes in the blades have to be enlarged to accommodate the 1/8ā dia barrels.I rebuild SAKs from soup to nuts. I make new scales, new custom g10, brass, or copper liners. I do acid wash, acid etching, stone wash, and flamed finishes. I have to make new brass pivot pins every build. I add on custom blades (for example... "Spydernox" builds which are victorinox with SPYDERCO mane blades added on), scalpel add, xacto add, etc.... I'm not sure if you've ever broken down a shit load of these things in order to make a custom toolset but a threaded steel pivot with a torx screw holding it all together at the other end makes life a HELL of alot easier for me. Some of the "benefits" include...
1. No cutting and peeing no brass pins. Period.
2. Obviously a threaded titanium pivot is a much stronger material than a brass pin
3. ALOT easier to disassemble and reassemble if you want to add or remove layers in the future
4. Eliminates having to drill out the old pins and make new brass pins EVERY TIME you disassemble/reassemble
5. Eliminates the possibility of loosing a glued-on or snapped-on scale
6. WAY easier to breakdown and THOROUGHLY clean
7.) ZERO flex. Zero oxidation, binding and the inevitable breaking a nail off
8.)Adjustable tension via screwdriver rather than a ball peen hammer.
Not to mention they are much more aesthetically pleasing imo. I could go on all day lol. I've got tons of reasons why I prefer a threaded pivot. In my experience they do the exact opposite by eliminating potential failures. Not to mention the ease of use. I'm still using brass pins on 4+layer knives which is fine but if I had a threaded titanium pin option I would prefer that option. But hey... If you prefer a stock knife, stock scales, no custom mods, and brass pins more power to you. You like what you like at the end of the day. There's nothing wrong with having different preferences. I'm guessing you don't know of any shops making threaded pivots
The smaller SAKās run right on the threads of a #0X80TPI screw (no barrel). I havenāt seen any Titanium hardware for SAK pivots.
Flytanium makes SAK pivot screws, but they are hard to adjust the length of.
You're the man!!! Thanks I appreciate it
. if I ever see another brass pin for the rest of my life it'll be too damn soon. Any supplier preferences??? Im assuming these arent something you can just buy off the shelves. Maybe ace hardware at their standard retail + 200% mark up. I think they charge more for their complimentary personal umpire hanging over your shoulder the entire time like a vulture. Their employees are relentless lolEverything you said about threaded pivots is great and I'm not disagreeing with any of it. I'm going to speak for the more standard stock approach though.
Every single custom SAK that I've built has used brass pivots and standard celidor or aluminum scales, and I prefer this because it gives the resulting custom knife an inconspicuous stock appearance. The last thing I want is a fancy expensive looking knife that is going to draw attention. I want it to blend in. I don't like the idea of it standing out and being a magnet for thieves and just generally nosey people who can often be obnoxious if nothing else.
I know that a lot of people actually enjoy getting attention for owning something flashy and expensive looking, but that's not for me. I'm not the kind of person who would choose to buy a fancy car, for example, or wear flashy clothes and accessories, or carry expensive looking gear. A swiss army knife with acid etching, stone washing, custom liners, and custom scales is just one of those flashy things that serves no real purpose for me except to draw unwanted attention.
To me, a swiss army knife's value is in it's practical use and it's nearly universal legal and social acceptance. The ease with which anyone can visually identify a swiss army knife is a big part of that. If you mess with its appearance too much then you're also messing with one the things that makes it so appealing to me.
Anyway, one major reason that puts people off of using threaded pivots is that you have to drill out the pivot holes on the tools, and I'm sure you are aware that it can be a real pain the butt if you've never done it before.
All of this is awesome
Many knife supply outlets sell pivot screw sets (1 pivot pin plus 2 matching screws).You're the man!!! Thanks I appreciate it
I donāt quite understand what you are espousing. Do you live in a high crime area?
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I can understand what G Guy McVer is talking about with regard to the universal acceptance of a SAK versus other knives, and how folks may want to hold onto that. I legitimately have had experiences where I had one knife and received some drama, and then at a later time had a SAK, and everything was aces.
A few years ago, I was using a small modern folder to cut a sandwich in the breakroom at a place I used to work. This woman from another department came in, saw this small, three and a half inch Buck, or ZT or whatever it was, and was like "OH MY GOD, IS THAT A KNIFE??!?!" and I had to talk her down, it's just cutting a sandwich, lady, relax. Then, a week or two later, I was using the main blade on a SAK Hunter to cut something else, same woman walks in. I steel myself for more theatrics, but instead she was like "Ohhhhh is that one of those SWISS ARMY knives??? My nephew has one and he's in the Scouts, and he showed me....blah blah blah. I nodded politely, made some polite small talk noises, and she left the room, and left me alone.
Everybody loves a Swiss Army Knife.
Quiet
gets it.Sort of. I've lived in worse areas and better areas. But even if you don't live in a high crime area, sh
can still go missing. Sometimes your tools will grow a pair of legs and walk away when you're not looking. It still ends up happening to people a lot on job sites even in areas that are considered low crime. It doesn't have to be a job site either. It could be a restaurant or movie theater, a stadium, a park, or any public place really. You absentmindedly leave something out and it's already gone by the time you realize. It mysteriously walked away and somehow nobody knows anything about it.If it's got custom titanium scales, brass or g10 liners, and a fancy pocket clip, well you can just kiss it goodbye. You're probably never getting it back. You're much more likely to get something back if it doesn't look expensive. It's like having a Rolex vs a 15 dollar Casio digital watch. You set that Rolex down somewhere and it's as good as gone. You set the Casio down and someone will probably bring it up to you and say "excuse me, but I think you forgot this".
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Or...you could stop leaving things laying around for other people to pick up and maybe return
I prefer to carry nice things and keep track of them accordingly, instead of relying on some random person's chances of returning something because it's cheap
.
I prefer to carry nice things and keep track of them accordingly, instead of relying on some random person's chances of returning something because it's cheap .Or...you could stop leaving things laying around for other people to pick up and maybe return
When you lock yourself out of your car, do you simply blame yourself and move on, or do you wise up and hide a spare key somewhere so that you don't have to pay a locksmith the next time it happens? Maybe that's a bad example. In my case I've been able to break into my own a car a few times, so the analogy sorta breaks down there, but I hope you get my point. The hidden spare key is the normal looking custom SAK.
Sh
happens. People aren't perfect and they make mistakes. This includes you. How would you feel if someone stole from you and everyone said it was your fault for letting yourself be victimized? That's a real situation that people find themselves in all the time. Let me tell you that it doesn't feel very good when people steal your stuff, and it feels even worse when people say that it was your fault for being a victim.Yeah no worries you like what you like!! However I'm not looking for flashy either. which is why I do an acid etch... It LITERALLY removes the "flashy" polished metal lol???.... I'm more so looking for a compact custom tool set that has everything I need all in one package on a MUCH more robust and durable frame for hard use, ease of use, ability to add or subtract tools. Titanium/metal/hardwood scales>plastic scales, steel pins> brass pins, g10 liners >aluminum liners. For those who actually use their tools it's a no brainer. having to carry multiple different saks with different sets of tools also sucks. There are always 2 or 3 USELESS stock tools which nobody uses. I replaced these with USEFUL tools. My knives don't draw attention in my pocket whatsoever. That really sucks idk where you find these people. I've heard about these people who freak out about knives but I've personally never seen it. I think living in Florida my whole life might have something to do with it because nobody cares. I've used a 24in machete to do some light work if I'm in a jam without a second look lol. Granted in my line of work I'm usually in Timbuktu BFE cutting line through heavily wooded tracts of land/swamp so that helps. Not a whole lot of people to judge my choice of implement on the job. I feel bad for the California folk with the 3in or less blade requirement. I'm not sure if they enforce that law or not but that sucks. I could carry a medieval braveheart longsword in my belt and nobody would bat an eye no bullshit.
Lol the very first "high end" knife I purchased over $100 was the older model benchmade grizzly creek ($250Ā±). I left it in my truck on a job site in plain view like a moron and somebody liberated it from my possession 3 days later. I wish I was making this up. 100% MY fault. You can only be accountable for your own actions. It's a little neive to think everyone is on the same level of morality in 2023 lol. Being victimized sucks so don't give these assholes the opportunity in the first place my friend!! You just need to charge that to the game, do some cussing, make adjustments, make some lanyards, and buy some carabiners. Problem solved!!!!
I REALLY appreciate the feedback from everyone. Thanks a lot!
Really quick for anybody who's interested I would like to shamelessly plug. I have a titanium sak (shown in the original pic w the blue g10 liners) on the for trades page because I can't use the for sale page. I also have a bunch of other stuff. I was shipwrecking every piece of copper I owned at one point lol so I've got alot of shipwrecked copper/brass as well. Benchmade, SPYDERCO, sak, yada yada. If interested shoot me a message!!!! See link below
Lol the very first "high end" knife I purchased over $100 was the older model benchmade grizzly creek ($250Ā±). I left it in my truck on a job site in plain view like a moron and somebody liberated it from my possession 3 days later. I wish I was making this up. 100% MY fault. You can only be accountable for your own actions. It's a little neive to think everyone is on the same level of morality in 2023 lol. Being victimized sucks so don't give these assholes the opportunity in the first place my friend!! You just need to charge that to the game, do some cussing, make adjustments, make some lanyards, and buy some carabiners. Problem solved!!!!
I REALLY appreciate the feedback from everyone. Thanks a lot!
Really quick for anybody who's interested I would like to shamelessly plug. I have a titanium sak (shown in the original pic w the blue g10 liners) on the for trades page because I can't use the for sale page. I also have a bunch of other stuff. I was shipwrecking every piece of copper I owned at one point lol so I've got alot of shipwrecked copper/brass as well. Benchmade, SPYDERCO, sak, yada yada. If interested shoot me a message!!!! See link below
Never heard of it but sounds interesting!
Where did you find that slide out box layer for the tweezers/pick??